Wednesday, September 16, 2009

I'm so sorry David - I do not know who the "artist" is!

Now where would you like to start the discussion on this? Ludolf.

7 comments:

c-dentist said...

This is insane, and considering I am of the dental persuasion, I find it somewhat appealing at the same time.

D.Macri said...

This is not gov't issue street cleaner?

=P

plishk said...

i wish the faces of the audience were visible. i wonder, was this scheduled performance art? or impromptu? i'm thinking it was spontaneous judging by what i see of the crowd.

as for where to start, this image makes me think of the connections between cleanliness (hygiene and beyond) and sex, especially when it comes to taboos and gender bending. this seems like a publicly staged S&M act (the costuming and the humiliation of the act), but it also reminds me of the man would traveled china like a inch worm. very thought provoking image.

D.Macri said...

Even by their feet you can tell they are keeping a safe distance, and often not turned looking directly at him (perhaps toes are pointing which direction they will run if he comes any closer with the giant toothbrush).

Scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush is a form of punishment (in the military?) isn't it?

plishk said...

military, rushing greek in college, and in S&M.

there are a lot of institutional connections invoked by this image.

Ludolf Grollé said...

on the other hand..... maybe we try to interpret what we see too much. Perhaps he was just out walking his dog - as one does, in high heels and a hernia belt with thigh-highs and he thought he would give the place a thorough cleaning. ON THE OTHER OTHER HAND...... maybe he is completely off his rocker.... on the other other hand [lets pretend we are spiders here for a moment] perhaps he was going to exchange the toothbrush at the grocery store for his mother and he slipped. HOWEVER.... how does one take this or anything at face value?
Well at least it provoked some response.

micro said...

I would bet this person had some distinct idea of what they were saying or protesting. A lot of trouble to go through just for kicks, but then again, I saw the migration of the Times Giant Chicken.